Please consider using Like buttons to support good actors, filmmakers, and films. This is especially significant now with IMDb.com, Internet Movie Database. Investors and distributors gauge the potential of movies in development or pre-production by looking at IMDb numbers for the movie and those attached to them on IMDb Pro (once a year fee). Casting Directors are using IMDb rankings, resumes, and demos more and more for casting. The lower the numbers in the rankings, the more popular the movie, actor, or crew member.
From Michael Walters, Executive Producer and Director of The Prodigal Film and other feature movies, "... many people including actors and producers do not understand IMDb.... IMDb is a mirror of the Hollywood film industry in which the value of its products, actors and producers are based on popularity, which does not necessarily reflect the quality of the story or its production. IMDB is a tool that the industry has available to gauge popularity. Many confuse IMDb as being a website, when it is not a website. IMDB is simply a database, and it has to be used as a database each week.
IMDb rates popularity and changes its numbers derived by two factors. First the number of LIKES an actor or project receives is calculated...there is a LIKE button on each IMDb page. Then the number of visits each week are measured. With these two factors popularity is determined. For instance when Meryl Streep is announced in an upcoming role, people are going to go check it out, and this drives up numbers. The same is true for directors, such as Spielberg or Tarentino. Being a database, IMDb provides information where the public and industry insiders can gain insight on a project's cast, characters, and its crew. The more looks the better the person, vendor or project ranks. This is how IMDB measures popularity.
Also, actors should be aware that if they have projects that are ranked in the hundreds of thousands, this will begin to significantly pull their rankings down. And then often an uncredited actor appears in two or more films which are top 100 films and they are ranked in the super star status because they are attached to a wildly popular project. Actors and crew people become interconnected in their ratings too. For example if an actor works on a series of projects that are connected with a rising star, their rankings can potentially improve project after project." (Although it is questionable whether or not it is wise to have credits for extra or even featured extra work even with high ranking projects.)
Further, Walters says, "actors may also want to consider deleting their names from projects over time which rank 500,000 or more to improve their rankings. " (It is easy to delete a credit on IMDb Pro by going to the credit, selecting delete, and giving a reason for deletion.)
Walters suggests, "Often actors don't find their credits on IMDb for a particular project. Producers may from time to time wrap a project and not post credit to actors. Actors have to try to post credits themselves. IMDb can be confusing in some of its functions to navigate, but it is worthwhile.
I try to educate my actors as to how to utilize this tool to their advantage. Crew members are typically the most disengaged, but I am finding more and more where where producers from L.A. will call me looking for references and they are looking at a crew member's IMDb to see if the crew member has enough experiences working on compatibly sized and budgeted projects. So let me wrap it by saying IMDb is becoming more and more popular to the success of anyone working in this industry."
This is not to say that IMDb rankings are fair or even accurate. Although IMDb tracks and follows up on possible manipulation of their system. Manipulation can hurt IMDb ratings.
The reality I see is that the casting directors, producers, distributors, investors I know, who are involved with high budget movies, work with and use IMDb rankings, resumes, and demos.We also need to manage well our credits, resumes, demos... on IMDb and elsewhere. We need to use wisely all the tools available to us.
Concerning IMDb pages, the credits section and resume sections have different purposes and uses. The credits are used to give a ranking that is viewed by investors, distributors, and casting directors as a gauge of marketability. The IMDb resume and resumes on others sites are histories of work used by many casting directors. (Although for a one-page resume, it will be necessary to list only the best credits.) On IMDb it may be best to have a short list of current and best credits in the credits section. It is also important that we continue to visit and Like each other's IMDb pages, as the visits and Likes also affect our rankings.
Different casting directors work diversely in selecting talent. I have many personal friends who are successful casting directors with big budget movies. Some use IMDb, some resumes, some demos, some auditions, and many use all or a combination of the above. If we are wise, we filmmakers will try to cover all the bases and effectively use all the current tools for marketing.
Filmmaking takes team work. Every member of a film cast, crew, and production team is important. Cast and crew can support each other on IMDB on their mutual or various projects. Supporters of movies can facilitate the success of a movie, actors, or crew by clicking on Like buttons on IMDb.
For further information, contact me, Dr. Diane Howard, at dhoward@vvm.com or visit my Web site at http://www.dianehoward.com.
See ongoing work on professional, epic, redemptive movies on my Pro Films Facebook site, https://www.facebook.com/groups/profilms13/ .
I am on IMDb as Dr. Diane Howard. See http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1189677/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 .
Comments